


The Balcony

by Sol_Invictus



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 17:04:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10035446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sol_Invictus/pseuds/Sol_Invictus
Summary: Prompt:Tina hates official MACUSA events, because she feels out of place. Graves hates them because the main reason he’s popular at these events is his family’s name. Or: Tina and Graves endure an official MACUSA event in each others company, because misery loves company.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for my sideblog [goldsteingraves](http://www.goldsteingraves.tumblr.com).

Tina tugged at her dress for the hundredth time and downed her glass of champagne. She couldn’t help but feel out of place. This party was way too classy for her and this dress wasn’t something she’d normally wear. Every laughter seemed directed at her. Tina felt like all the eyes were staring disapprovingly at her dress.

Suddenly finding the crowdy ballroom stuffy, she made her way to a dimly lit corridor leading to a balcony. She eagerly breathed into the cold night air before her Auror training kicked in and she realized someone was behind her. She turned around quickly, hand on her wand, and found herself face-to-face with Percival Graves.

“Mercy Lewis!” he growled, startled.

“Sir!”

They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. Percival sighed heavily.

“I suppose madam President is calling me?”

“Um, I don’t think so?” answered Tina, puzzled. “But what are you doing here?”

Her boss frowned.

“Well, the room was feeling stuffy”, he said. “Are you sure Picquery is not looking for me?”

Was it…a touch of nervousness Tina was hearing in his voice? Never in her life had she used the word “nervous” to describe Director Graves. He was usually so confident, so strong, that nervousness seemed to be a feeling unknown to him.

But here, in the moonlight, his face didn’t look so confident. It was…softer. Kinder.

“But what are _you_ doing here?” he asked.

“The room was feeling stuffy?”

Her heart felt lighter when she heard his chuckle. He came to lean against the guardrail, next to her. She could feel the heat his body was radiating.

“Hard to fit in, uh? You’re too honest to really blend in with these people anyway, Tina.”

_I could say the same about you_ she thought, but she didn’t dare. Her capacity in making conversation always seemed to derail in presence of Percival Graves.

“Whole lot of hypocrites” he went on. “Not one would dare say to my face what they say behind my back.”

“Don’t be like that, sir. You’re popular. Everyone respects you for what you accomplish.”

He scoffed with bitterness.

“My _name_ is popular, you mean. I’m not petty enough for them. I have other things to do than steal the government’s money and sack competent people because they don’t lick my boots.”

Tina was surprised by this bitterness. She had always felt like her boss was in his element with the elite. He was from one of the Great Twelve, after all. And he had such a dignified air, such grace… The evening suit he was wearing only amplified his noble aura. The cut of the jacket fitted him perfectly. Graves’s gaze crossed hers. Tina looked away immediately, blushing. Great, her boss caught her staring! The man chuckled and let his eyes wander her body.

“Nice dress, Goldstein. The boys must get all hot and bothered when they see you.”

Tina flushed a shade darker and squirmed with embarrassment. Desperate to change the subject before embarrassing herself any further, she said:

“I think we should go back.”

“Yeah, right. But on one condition.”

“Which one?”

Percival Graves grinned, and in the moonlight, it almost seemed shy.

“Dance with me.”

Tina blinked a few times, thinking her ears must have deceived her. Did her boss just ask her to dance with him?

“I- uh, well- Y-Yes” she heard herself stutter.

His grin widened and he offered her his arm. Her heart beating like a drum, she slowly wrapped a hand around his forearm. As they returned to the party together, Percival’s eyes seemed to twinkle with something Tina didn’t dare to name.


End file.
